


Shopping With Bradley

by Hils, lou_angel



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-26
Updated: 2009-02-26
Packaged: 2018-10-15 04:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hils/pseuds/Hils, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lou_angel/pseuds/lou_angel
Summary: It was only supposed to be a quick trip to the shops.





	

To be fair, Bradley had warned him this might happen. He'd marched right up to him on the first day they met and announced that he was a huge fan of Buffy and was liable to get a bit excited.

Tony had smiled and laughed, assuming it had been a joke or at least an exaggeration.

He'd been wrong.

"Where are you going?" Bradley asked, stepping out from behind a vending machine in the hotel corridor. "Can I come? Can I film you for the DVD?"

Sometimes he wished Bradley were less likeable so he could just tell him to go away. But there was something kind of endearing about his raw, open enthusiasm. Still, Tony wasn’t stupid enough to go out without some sort of buffer.

“Sure. Let’s take Colin out too.”

Bradley bounced on the balls of his feet and grinned. "Great! I'll get Katie and Angel too! It can be a group trip!"

He darted off to their rooms before Tony had time to protest. "I only wanted a Mars bar."

Bradley chattered loudly and constantly throughout the trip to the supermarket, waggling his camcorder around, firing questions at everyone and not giving them time to answer. He laughed at Colin’s attempts to mouth ‘help me’ at random passers by and kept close by Tony’s arm.

"What are we buying?" he asked when they finally arrived. "Ooh, I need strawberries! And milk!"

"Are you going to pay sixteen pounds for them again?" Angel asked with a grin.

Bradley ignored her and followed Tony to the dairy section. "I really wish I had a fridge."

Tony was studiously reading the labels on various cheeses.

“What’s Camembert?” Bradley asked, grossly mispronouncing the word.

“It’s a French cheese,” Tony said absently.

Bradley wrinkled his nose. “I hope it’s steak for dinner tonight.”

"Do you ever eat anything that didn't live in a field before being brutally murdered?" Colin asked.

“I like fish fingers,” Bradley said.

Colin sighed and rolled his eyes. "You really are as stupid as you look, aren't you?"

Bradley would have been offended were it not for the gentle affection in Colin's voice. "Hey, I'm not the one who thinks grass is suitable food."

Colin grinned at him.

“Giles,” Bradley said returning his attention to Tony who was unsuccessfully trying to sneak away, “Why can’t I have a fridge? If I don’t have a fridge I can’t have milk.” He frowned, sticking his bottom lip out.

“It’s Tony, Bradley, not Giles,” Tony said patiently. “And I’ve told you, milk – milk’s not that good for you.”

“Yeah, well,” Bradley said quickly, “I’m not all that keen on milk actually.”

Katie, who had been unusually quiet up to this point, snorted loudly and didn’t even try to disguise it.

Bradley glared at her and carried on talking. "Maybe I'll get some cheese. What kind of cheese have you got?" He attempted to peer over Tony's shoulder. "Wow, I can't believe I'm buying cheese with Giles."

"And I can't believe what a geek you are," Katie replied with a grin.

"Now children," Tony said wearily, although he was clearly trying to keep from laughing. "Please don't fight."

“How much is that cheese?” Bradley asked pointing, “Angel, how do you say ‘how much is that cheese?’ in French?”

"Voulez vous coucher avec moi" Angel said with a perfectly straight face.

“I’m not that dumb,” Bradley pouted.

“I beg to differ,” Katie said.

Tony sighed and moved on. "I need wine. Lots of wine."

"Red not white though," Bradley contributed as they all followed. "Since we don't have a fridge."

“The way you guzzle it down I’m surprised you’d care,” Katie said scathingly.

“Tony doesn’t guzzle his wine!” Bradley said, offended on Tony’s behalf.

“I was talking about...oh never mind.” Katie gave up as Bradley bounded ahead and zoomed his camera in on Tony’s hand holding a bottle of red wine.

Angel gave her arm a sympathetic squeeze.

"I honestly don't know how anyone puts up with him for more than five minutes." Katie glanced at Colin who had been walking beside them quietly up until that point. "You spend more time with him than anyone else. How have you not murdered him yet? Or gone insane?"

Colin raised an eyebrow.

Katie whistled softly, “Well, he must be good in bed then.” She stared at Bradley appraisingly.

Bradley went white. Then red. He gave them a horrified stare and then looked at Tony, mortified.

Tony pretended to examine the wine bottle intently and tried not to laugh.

Colin gave Katie a filthy grin.

Bradley, deciding to make himself scarce for a while, bounded off to look at DVDs and the group heaved a collective sigh of relief and enjoyed the quiet.

It didn't last long.

"Look! They have season 1 of Heroes really cheap. I should buy it. Do you think it will all be in French? I miss Santiago. I hope they bring Lancelot back in series 2 even if it's just for one episode."

“I don’t think Lancelot will be back until Uther is dead,” Tony said selecting a bottle of wine and putting it into his basket.

“Oh.” Bradley looked devastated. “But that would mean you’d have to leave,” he said mournfully.

“Yes it would,” Tony said gently.

Bradley’s brow furrowed. Then he looked down at the DVDs in his hand, “Santiago was very good though wasn’t he? I liked him. Did you like him, Colin? He’s very pretty. Good cheekbones, like yours. Did you think he was pretty Angel?”

Angel gave a sideways glance to Katie and then smiled. "Yes, Bradley, he was very pretty."

"Not as pretty as you of course," Katie added, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I’m not pretty,” Bradley retorted, “I’m not a girl.”

“Neither’s Santiago,” Katie shot back.

Bradley didn’t reply.

“I’ve actually made him speechless!” Katie grinned.

"What kind of wine did you get?" Bradley asked, turning his attention back to Tony. "Maybe I'll get some too."

"You don't like red wine," Colin pointed out. "It makes you sick."

"Sometimes I do," Bradley argued. "I want some."

“No you don’t.”

”Yes I do.”

“No you don’t”

Tony was certain he had a headache coming on.

"Fine," Colin said. "But if you get ill again I'm not looking after you this time."

"Ooh," Katie said, slinking up to Colin and draping herself over him. "Has this happened before? You must tell me all about it."

Bradley shot Colin a warning look.

“Well…” said Colin deliberately.

“Don’t you dare,” Bradley warned.

“It was after he’d spent the day wading in that lake…”

“Shut it, Morgan,” Bradley growled.

“Tell me later,” Katie whispered loudly.

Bradley resolved to make sure Colin was thoroughly occupied for the rest of the day and would have no chance of telling any potentially embarrassing stories about him. Especially in front of Tony.

"I think we're done," Tony announced. His head was starting to ache now and he really wanted a cigarette.

"Were the books in the library on Buffy real?" Bradley asked, flicking through some random book he'd just picked up. "We should find a library here and do research. It'd be fun."

"Bradley, if we went to a library here all the books would be in French," Angel pointed out. "Your French is awful."

"I don't need French!" Bradley announced proudly. "Because I've got the magic words."

"Oh, God," Colin groaned. "Please don't sing your little song here where other people can hear you."

Bradley ignored him and launched into an enthusiastic rendition of his (in)famous ditty ‘Je ne comprends pas, je suis anglais.’

“Quick, stuff a strawberry in his mouth or something,” Katie said giving Colin a sly glance.

“You know, Bradley,” Tony said when Bradley finally stopped singing. “It would be quite a good thing for you to learn some French whilst you are out here.”

Bradley looked rather crestfallen. “Maybe we could go to the library and you could teach me,” he asked hopefully.

"I've got a book you can borrow," Colin supplied helpfully, seeing the panic in Tony's eyes. "I'll give it to you later when we run through our lines."

Katie snorted, causing Colin to blink innocently at her. "What?"

"Running through lines? Is that code for something?"

"Yeah," Bradley retorted. "It's code for 'let's plot our newest and best prank yet'."

"Funny," Tony mused with a wry smile. "Running lines was what they used to call it on Buffy too."

“What I have missed?” Angel asked returning from the till with her shopping in small brown paper bag.

“Colin and Bradley are going back to the hotel to run through some lines,” Katie said.

“Oh,” Angel said not hearing the unsubtle hint in Katie’s voice. “That’s a good idea. Maybe we should all do that.”

Bradley tried not to giggle girlishly. Then he stopped abruptly and looked at Tony, “Wait a minute, who used to call it that on Buffy?”

“What is going on here?” Angel whispered to Katie.

"I think Colin and Bradley have the same...chemistry...that Merlin and Arthur do," Katie whispered back.

"Oh!" Angel exclaimed loudly, flushing red when Bradley, Colin and Tony all stared at her. "Sorry, just remembered I...forgot that I wanted to wash my favourite top today."

“Shouldn’t that be washing your hair?” Bradley asked.

“What’s wrong with my hair?”

“Er, nothing, I just meant – “ he looked at Tony for help.

Tony thought this was turning into the longest quick pop to the shops in history.

"Well, I'm going back to the hotel," Colin announced, giving Bradley a very pointed and unsubtle look. "Who's coming?"

"I am!" Katie and Angel quickly chimed. Bradley said nothing and simply looked at Tony.

"Run along," Tony said gently. "Let the old man have some rest."

"You're not old!" Bradley said firmly, but quickly fell in behind Colin as they walked back to the hotel.

Tony sighed and wondered whether one bottle of wine would be enough. He hovered uncertainly by the shelf, before resolutely picking up another two bottles. If nothing else, he wouldn’t have to face another shopping trip like that in a hurry. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to see they’d barely been there for twenty minutes. It felt like a lot longer.

His opinion of Colin, which was already very high, soared as he thought how exhausting it must be, putting up with Bradley’s exuberance. Maybe he really was getting old.

He paid for the wine and then walked deliberately slowly back to the hotel, making sure he allowed the others plenty of time to get ahead and settled down before he returned to his own room.

He eased into his chair and poured himself a generous glass of wine, sipping it gently as he allowed the exhaustion to drain from him.

Five minutes later there was a knock at the door. He was half-tempted to pretend not to be in.

The knock came again. “It’s ok Tony,” came Richard’s voice, muffled through the door. “Bradley’s not out here.”

Tony opened the door. “You heard then?” He stood back to let Richard in.

“He’s a good boy,” Richard said solemnly.

Tony smiled and sighed. "Yes, he is. He does make me feel old though."

Richard eyed the wine and smiled. "So I see."

"Oh," Tony said with a grin. "Please, join me. I've got some nice Camembert that I just picked up too."

“Are you hiding out?” Richard asked, but he accepted Tony’s offer and settled comfortably into one of the chairs.

“Oh I think I might be safe for a little while. Colin’s occupying Bradley at the moment.” He sounded perfectly innocent, but Richard gave a dry chuckle.

"They're running lines," Tony added with a grin.

"Are they still calling it that?" Richard replied, accepting a glass of wine and taking a sip.

Tony shrugged and smiled. "Well, at least it gives me some peace and quiet for a while."

“It seems you’re making the most of it,” Richard said. “Well, whatever else we might think, we do work with a highly entertaining bunch.”

Tony laughed in agreement and thought that perhaps he didn’t mind the boundless energy, the affectionate teasing and their exasperating enthusiasm so much after all.

 

~

Colin was staring at him intensely, lips slightly parted and a flush to his cheeks.

"I know I shouldn't feel this way but I can't help it. We've grown so close over the past few months and I know it's not my place to say it but, Arthur, I really do care about you."

Bradley sighed. "Colin, I thought running lines was supposed to be code for something fun."

Colin grinned. "Oh, I am having fun."

“Well I’m glad someone is,” snapped Bradley, pouting.

Colin wished that Bradley wouldn’t pout like that because it always made him want to drop whatever he was doing and lavish kisses upon Bradley until the glowers disappeared.

Which, of course, was precisely why Bradley did it.

"Come on," he said, nudging Bradley. "It's you."

Bradley sighed. "I appreciate the sentiment, Merlin. But I have to do this. It's my duty." His voice was flat and lifeless, filled with boredom.

"You're not even trying," Colin said with mock annoyance. "Call yourself an actor?"

"Oh come on!" Bradley exclaimed. "Let's have some fun. Why don't we change the sign on Angel's door again? God, I'll even learn some French."

"Ok!" Colin said. "I'll teach you some French."

He captured Bradley's mouth with his own, raking his fingers through his hair and slipping his tongue into his mouth. Bradley moaned and kissed him back.

"There," Colin said with a grin when they pulled back. "French kissing. Your first lesson."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it my first." Bradley looked like he was about to launch into a full rendition of the numerous kisses he could think of. “There was that time when we drank all that wine and…”

“Bradley,” interrupted Colin.

“What?”

“Shut up,” Colin said and kissed him again.

As Bradley kissed him back he decided that maybe there was something to be said for not talking.

~

Angel flopped down on the end of Katie’s bed and sighed. “I’m shattered.”

Katie looked up sympathetically from the bundle of papers she was reading. “Why don’t you have a nap?”

“I’ll never sleep tonight then,” Angel said. “What are you doing?”

“Just running through some lines.”

Angel grinned. "By yourself?"

Katie's lips quirked into a smile. "Well, I was going to ask you to help but I thought you had a top to wash."

"Oh, I do." Angel tugged her shirt over her head and allowed it to drop to the floor.

“That’s a shame,” Katie said, still smiling. “I was quite looking forward to running through lines with you.”

“Really, what did I miss in that conversation?” Angel asked, perplexed “No-one can like running through lines that much.”

Katie set aside her pages and sat on the bed beside Angel. "And no one can be that desperate to do laundry."

"Ok," Angel laughed. "You caught me."

"I'll do more than catch you," Katie grinned and kissed her.

Angel thought that it wouldn’t be particularly difficult for Katie to catch her. Or do anything really, because she wasn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

The End


End file.
